


come back (i still need you)

by rennestar



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Kisses, M/M, SHEITH - Freeform, Scars, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 05:58:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17482466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rennestar/pseuds/rennestar
Summary: Shiro’s eyes are glossy and flickering and focused on Keith like he’s a bonfire; like whatever heat is radiating off his words is an offer on a cold night.Maybe that’s where he is right now. Maybe Shiro is still shivering in that cell, his arm dripping with blood and his head spinning--starved and deprived and dying in that pod out in space--alone in the conscience of a robotic lion. It’s ridiculous, but maybe wherever he was, Keith still hasn’t fully brought him back from yet.Maybe there’s still some way to save him.





	come back (i still need you)

“I never apologized for this.”   
  
His voice is quiet and low, and Keith closes his eyes when he hears it. Even if he hadn’t felt the gentle touch of fingertips on his jaw, he would have known what Shiro was talking about--he’s suspected that he’s felt this way for a while now. Flying with him in the cockpit of the Black Lion wasn’t difficult, but it wasn’t painless having their secrets on display every time their eyes met. They didn’t have time to talk about it.   
  
Now they do, with Keith out of the hospital, sitting together at the edge of Shiro’s bed. The first time they’ve had real privacy since--weeks ago, Keith realizes. After Shiro’s speech.   
  
“You don’t need to. I never expected you to, I never would have.” Keith opens his eyes and mirrors his tone, rasp creeping in at the edges of his voice. He lifts his own hand up to hold Shiro’s, pressing it to the mark on his skin. “Keith-”   
  
“It’s my scar, isn’t it? You don’t need to feel guilty about who put it there, because it  _ wasn’t you _ . You didn’t have control then, but you do now.”   
  
They’re close. They’ve been close like this before,  _ closer _ than this before, and he’s had to try to swallow down the majority of his feelings while taking care of Shiro, and while Shiro has taken care of him.  _ They got in the way _ , scratching at his throat and his chest, and he hated how they both burned each time Shiro touched him. It didn’t mean anything. It couldn’t.   
  
But here they are.    
  
This intimacy isn’t clinical or out of necessity, it isn’t just hinted with emotion. Emotion is purely what this is. Shiro’s eyes are glossy and flickering and focused on Keith like he’s a bonfire; like whatever heat is radiating off his words is an offer on a cold night.   
  
Maybe that’s where he is right now. Maybe Shiro is still shivering in that cell, his arm dripping with blood and his head spinning--starved and deprived and dying in that pod out in space--alone in the conscience of a robotic lion. It’s ridiculous, but maybe wherever he was, Keith still hasn’t fully brought him back from yet.   
  
Maybe there’s still some way to save him.   
  
He leans in, and Shiro looks down, parting his lips and taking in a wavering breath as a tear finally falls down his cheek. “You’re in control, Shiro.”   
  
Shiro presses his lips against Keith’s, and they both melt into it, easy and warm. It didn’t take his life to bring Shiro back, although undoubtedly, either of them would have given themselves up for the other. It’s not that they haven’t, willingly - it’s not like they aren’t, but this is a different sacrifice. This is a different offering. One they’ve been waiting on for years, never feeling like it was one they could take, never in control of what they have and what they lose.    
  
Sometimes the universe can be selfish, but right now, neither of them are focused on that. They aren’t giving themselves up to the infinite galaxies that governed how much of each other they could have. They aren’t trading their life to save the other. They’re giving themselves up to each other.   
  
Shiro pulls away, tears still falling from his eyes, ever so silent. Hot breath escapes from his lips in a sigh, and Keith moves his hand from his scar to his lips, pressing them gently to his knuckles.   
  
The universe can take what it wants; it hasn’t earned their love or fought for it. Not like they have, not like they will, time and time again. Some things can’t be stolen.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading ♡
> 
>  
> 
> [tumblr](https://rennestop.tumblr.com/)


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